Dance With a Stranger
by ilovemichiru25
Summary: A Halloween one-shot!


They say that every year, around the end of October, spirits are allowed one visit back to the living world. The year was 1997...

She lived in a small town that was considered to be in the middle of nowhere. The entire population was only 237 people. It was one of those towns where everybody knew everybody and knew everything that went on.

One would think that any sane person would fight their way out tooth and nail, but even those fighters got homesick from one time to another.

Which is why Haruka was so eager to return home and attend the autumn social.

Driving her old Chevy down the empty and worn street towards town, she noticed a shadow of a figure near the only gas station, standing at the edge of the road.

Intrigued, Haruka pulled up to her.

"Are you doing okay there, Miss?" She asked after rolling down her window. Her blonde hair seemed to shine against the back drop of the setting horizon behind her. The dance was going to start soon.

"Actually, I was hoping for a ride into town. I want to go to the Autumn Social." The woman answered softly.

Haruka barely listened. All she could think that whoever this woman was, must surely be an angel. Her aqua curls seemed to flow freely and somehow elegently with the evening breeze. And just as that light caress blew by, her hair flew over most of her beautiful pale face, but her eyes seemed to only strengthen. Eyes as deep as the sea and the color of the purest blue surrounded by long, think eyelashes. You didn't mind drowning in her eyes.

Her outfit was a bit odd though. She was dressed in a victorian style white tunic type top and a flowy skirt that reached mud calf. There was something about her clothes that reminded Haruka of her history book.

Now most people are told to never give rides to strangers since there's a 95% probability that they're really ax murderers, but Haruka wasn't afraid. She was never afraid. After living in the big cities, she knew that nothing here could ever scare her.

"Sure thing. Hop in," The blonde looked down for a moment to unlock the passenger seat door and as she looked back up, ready to give this stranger her signature smile, only to find that she was already on the other side of the door. _Strange. It was as if she just poofed there..._

The ride was mostly silent. Haruka didn't ask much since she didn't want to seem too prying, but she did learn that this beautiful maiden's name was Kaioh Michiru and that she was twenty years old.

When they arrived to the town center, Haruka parked the car and glanced at the beautiful woman next to her. Smiling, she said "Shall we go then Miss?"

Michiru smiled softly, nodding. She waited until Haruka stepped out of the car and bent down to tie her shoe before she got out of the car as well. She floated past the blonde, excited to go inside.

The tomboy couldn't help but grin at the obvious eagerness that shone in the deep shapphire eyes. Perhaps this was Michiru's first dance?

Haruka caught up the smaller woman easily and fell into step with her. "So Michiru, is this your first dance here?" She voiced her own question.

Michiru shot her a smile that resembled a smirk mixed with grin. "I've been to similar events, but I'm quite interested to what people do these days."

Before she could ask her about what exacty she meant by 'these days', they reached the double doors. Tanned arms held the heavy oak door opened for her and Michiru gave a thankful smile.

Multiple pair of eyes landed on the new couple. Everybody knew Haruka was visiting from the city, but who was her friend? A couple of young men decided to find out.

Just as Haruka finished asking her new stranger for a dance, two rowdy boys sauntered up. They reaked of alcohol and cheap bathroom cologne.

"Well howdy there, beautiful" The taller one slurred, leaning in. Michiru shifted uncomfortably.

"Hello sir." She answered, trying not to show her intimidation. Haruka watched with mild interest; she wasn't the jealous type. Or at least, that's what she thought.

"Sir? Ho, ho, ho. Hear that Austin? This lady here knows who's in charge." The shorter, red head commented with an twisted smirk.

"Perfect! So then, be a smart little girl and come dance with us," He reached to grab Michiru by the forearm but she quickly pulled back before he could land a finger. Anger flashed quickly threw his black eyes. "We are going to try this again," He said sternly. "I _am_ going to dance with you. Whether you _like_ it or not. Now come here—"

A punch landed square on his crooked Owen Wilson nose. A loud yelp escaped from him and the man glared at Haruka, clutching his broken nose with two closed fists.

The blonde merely returned the glare. She watched as he muttered a string of curses under his breath before bolting out of the dance, his lacky following closely. Haruka turned back to Michiru, taking a chance to use her peripheral in order to see the rest of the town's reaction to her little outburst. Everyone smiled knowingly. Those new guys had it coming the second they messed with someone who was with Haruka. With a satisfied smile, her green eyes landed on Michiru.

"You okay?" She asked with a soft voice.

Michiru nodded, "Thank you." She smiled tenderly at the blonde woman and Haruka felt her heart melt at the sincerety and warmth of such a beautiful smile.

"No problem, shall we dance?" She asked with a grin and an offered hand. Michiru hesitated before touching her pale hand with Haruka's tanned. She was a bit surprised at how cold the aquamarine's hand was.

The rest of the evening went perfectly. The couple didn't exchange many words, but instead conversed through laughs and cheezy dance moves. Especially Michiru, who only seemed to know old school dances.

As the social drew to a close, Haruka bit her lip before asking the question that would make or break her night. "Can I give you a ride home, Michiru?"

Michiru turned back to Haruka, her cheeks still pale, even after hours of rhythemed excersize. "Actually, can you drop me off where you picked me up? My house is very close to the gas station."

She wasn't sure if she should be satisfied with the answer, but nodded, saying that Michiru could go out to the car first while she spoke with some old friends for a minute.

After a quick conversation with her friends from high school, she was even more confused. Nobody knew who Michiru was and that she obviously didn't live around town. Which complicated things more, since the Autumn Dance had been a town tradition for decades and only town members knew about it.

When Haruka reached her old Chevy, she fished out her keys, ready to press the unlock button, but realized Michiru was already seated in the passenger seat.

Shaking it off with some lame excuse, she unlocked the driver's door and climbed in. The car ride home was mostly silent, but Haruka could tell by Michiru's peaceful, content expression that she enjoyed the night.

When they pulled up to the gas station at the outskirts of the town, Michiru turned to the blonde, "Thank you for the ride, Haruka."

Haruka couldn't help but think how sweet her name sounded coming from the aquanette. "Of course, Michiru. Perhaps we can do it again," She noticed the spark of mystery that suddenly appeared in the deep sea eyes that she had grown quite fond of. Deciding that she should play it by the old school handbook, Haruka offered, "Here, take my jacket since it's kind of chilly tonight."

She stripped off her dark green jacket and handed it to Michiru, who took it excitedly. "Goodbye, Haruka," She said softly before stepping out the car.

"Goodbye, Michiru," Haruka whispered after she closed the door. The blonde gave the woman one last smile before making a u-turn and driving back towards the heart of town.

—X—

_One day is long enough, right?_ Haruka thought it was plenty of time before executing the second part of her plan.

The old Chevy pulled up to the gas station. The blonde stepped out and surveyed her surroundings from behind her dark ray-band sunglasses. The only house she could see was behind the deserted gas station but it looked like it had be abandoned long ago.

Figuring it couldn't hurt to check, she walked through the unkept lawn full of sand and weeds and knocked on the door. Surprisingly, someone answered.

"Hello, does a Michiru live here by any chance?" She asked politely.

The old woman had white and grey oily looking hair and was standing in a hunch. She gave Haruka a crazy look, her dark eyes widened at the name. "Kaioh Michiru?" She repeated.

Haruka nodded, a smile slowly making it's way up to her face. She's going to get to see Michiru again! "I was with her last night and gave her my jacket, but I was hoping to see her and ask for it back."

"Impossible!" The old woman shouted. "That's impossible!"

The blonde blinked.

"Come. Come child!" Moving surprisingly faster than Haruka expected, the old woman took her by the wrist and practically dragged her to the back of the house where a small cementary lay. "Look," She pointed to a square worn looking tombstone with some sort of plant hanging over it. "Read it child. Read it," She did.

_Kaioh Michiru_

_March 6, 1946 to October 27, 1964_

Green eyes looked at the rest of the tombstone and realized it wasn't vines wrapped around the top. It was her jacket.

A/N: Meh, not my best work obviously... Sorry, for mistakes. Im kinda tired xD But Halloween is right around the corner so I thought it would ne fitting. Read and Review since you already made this far ^_^

About 'a spring to remember'...the new chappy, I'm working on it! But I'm going to go with longer chapters and a bit slower updates, but please don't let it keep you from reading. Expect an update this week-ish depending on what parties I'm attending :) 


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